Machine for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a machine for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste. The inventive machine cuts up the refuse and compacts the same by means of hydraulic pressure at the waste recovery site. Once the desired compaction has been obtained and the plant refuse has taken on a geometric bale shape, said bales are tied up in bundles using baling wire or another material suitable for said purpose. The inventive machine can be used for the cost-effective recovery of plant refusing resulting from forest, agricultural or gardening pruning or clearing, thereby reducing the cost of transporting and handling refuse owing to the reduction in the volume thereof. In this way, said machine transforms the theory of waste disposal in relation to the ecosystem, by providing cost-effective recovery of plant refuse obtained in an indirect manner and incorporating same into the industrial chain for the production of energy, wood, paper, substrates, peat, oils feed and similar products.

This invention belongs to the mechanics and logistics sector, in that itconsists of a machine for recovery work through the recovery, cuttingup, compaction and baling of plant refuse which is usually generated inpruning and clearing work in forests, woodland and other agriculturaland urban areas.

Previous technology has mechanical mechanisms for the elimination ofthis waste, characterized by the crushing of the remains of branches,leaves and green parts of trees, bushes or thickets which are simplycrushed and deposited in the place where they are generated. They aresubsequently burned, with the consequent risk of fire or they are sentto controlled garbage dumps with the consequent costs and non-use of thematerials. This plant refuse blends in with the soil through a naturalcomposting process but this takes a considerable time. On the other handthe presence of this refuse made up of chippings, leaves, green partsetc. on the land forms an ideal environment in which blights whichaffect plant species can survive and spread. Lastly, leaving this refusein forest or agricultural areas creates a high risk of creating andspreading of forest fires. Numerous studies carried out in countrieswith large agricultural or forest areas, such as for example Finland,have made it clear that the means currently in existence for therecovery of forest waste are insufficient. Currently there are thereforenumerous types of chipping machines for forest refuse, however they donot have mechanisms which are able to compact and/or pack the wood wasteobtained in such a way that it takes up the least amount of spacepossible, given that the current system is operated by means of storagecompartments attached to the crushing machines and propelled bymechanical means such as a tractor or similar, the residue beingobtained in a dispersed way and stored inside the chipping machinewithout any compaction or density. For this reason the volume capacityis much lower and the vehicles are forced to move in order to transferthe containers once they are full. This procedure is therefore not atall cost-effective and is uneconomical due to the costs oftransportation and manipulation of the forest, agricultural or urbanwaste, so that it is simpler to just leave it in the woodland. In thecase of urban or agricultural wood waste, an alternative to just leavingit is for it to be collected and sent to controlled garbage dumps, whichgenerates additional costs.

Current technology thus presents numerous problems as regards thecollection and recovery of wood waste, highlighting in particular thelow density and high volume taken up by the refuse, and makes it clearthat there is a need to develop in situ packaging systems so that therefuse takes up a minimum volume which allows transportation to be mademore cost-effective, making its manipulation easier.

It is thus obvious that this sector requires the development of newmachines and techniques which will allow the obtaining and recovery ofplant refuse to be made more cost-effective, having a bearing on thefundamental problems which arise. One of these is the difficultyinvolved in transportation and manipulation which considerably increasesthe costs of the procedures and make them uneconomical. This means thatevery year hundreds or thousands of tonnes of plant materials frompruning or forest, agricultural or even urban clearing are lost. Theseare not recovered and could be put to very good use, for example toobtain energy, be it electrical, cogeneration, vapour, calorific(charcoal) etc., as well as for the manufacture of chipboard and otherderivatives of the wood industry, application to the paper industry,obtaining raw materials for plant feed, essential oils and naturalfertilizers for land (compost).

On the other hand, the technology does have machinery designed foragricultural work capable of baling small diameter, uniform materials,which is the case of the balers for straw, hay etc. However thesemechanical mechanisms cannot be compared to the object of thisinvention, which is capable of cutting up and compacting differentkinds, densities and diameters of wood material through pressure,including the possibility of cutting up trunks with a diameter of morethan 30 centimetres.

The object of this invention is thus to offer a solution to all theproblems currently in existence, making the recovery and the processingof the wood refuse easier, and for its subsequent use, offering amachine capable of recovering, cutting up, compacting and finally balinginto geometric shapes with considerably lower volume, plant refuse suchas branches, leaves, green parts, trunks and trunk sections of adiameter ranging from 0 to 30 centimetres and more.

In this way, the mechanical mechanism which forms the object of thisinvention benefits the environment, as well as facilitating consumptionand covering the current levels of demand for energy. It also makes useof resources which at present are not cost-efficient with the currentsystems for the extraction and transformation of these materials.

Thus by means of this invention innumerable advantages are obtainedamong which, for explanatory purposes only, are the following:

-   -   Improved clearing of woodland and forest areas, agricultural and        urban areas.    -   Avoidance of the spreading of blights which affect plant        species, by removing the refuse from the surface of green and        forest areas.    -   Removal or considerable reduction of the risk of forest fires        being spread, by removing dry plant waste such as branches,        chippings etc., which cause and feed fires in the seasons when        the risk of fire is highest.    -   In one single process and in the actual place where the plant        refuse is extracted, sectioning, compaction and baling into        regular geometric shapes (bales) is carried out, thus achieving        a more simple and economical recovery and transportation        process.    -   The machine which forms the object of this invention is made up        of a process for the treatment of materials and wood waste from        pruning or clearing which allows for more cost-effective        recovery of the same, substituting the criteria for the removal        of waste existing in current technology with that of        cost-effective refuse recovery.    -   The use of the machine which forms the object of this invention        in the actual place where the plant refuse is generated allows        collection costs to be reduced compared to the previously        existing systems (burning, crushing of refuse etc.) which are        substituted by recovery, cutting up, compaction and baling.    -   Incorporation into the industrial chain of different products        such as chippings, leaves and green parts, which may be used for        different purposes. These include the manufacture of chipboard,        uses in the paper industry, materials which may be composted for        natural fertilizers, substrates, soil for greenhouses, essential        oils, energy production, composting sewage sludge, manure etc.,        thereby indirectly achieving the extraction of a series of plant        materials with industrial uses which it would otherwise not be        possible to obtain without damaging the ecosystem.

In order for the invention described below to be better understood, wenext refer to the attached design diagrams:

Diagram number 1: Shows a frontal view of the right-hand side of themachine. The broken lines show what could be one of the movementvariants of the machine (traction head); the wheels or caterpillarchains are also shown as an alternative means of movement of theself-moving body.

Diagrams number 2 and 3 show two ground views of the machine body.

Diagram number 4 is an upper view of the reclining side hatch mechanismof the feed hopper (4) and the hydraulic piston (4′), showing theopening and closing route of said hatch.

The numerical references of the above designs relate to: The chassis orbody of the machine (1); the hydraulic loading arm/claw (2); the feedhopper (3); the hydraulic opening and closing hatch of the hopper (4);the hydraulic arm (4′) which moves the aforementioned hatch; countercutting equipment (5) and cutting equipment (5′); the pressing plate(6); the automaton element (7); the braking tunnel (10); the frame (11);the baling wire, strapping or plastic cord (12); the needles (13); therear part or platform for expulsion of the bales (14) which supports therear platform and the power plant or generator (15).

This invention, in a preferred realization method, consists of amechanical machine for agricultural and/or forest use which is made upof: A chassis or metallic structure (1) preferably made in a single bodyin a lengthened form in which the following elements or functional partscan be selected:

-   -   (2) Hydraulic loading arm-claw which is responsible for        recovering the previously piled-up plant refuse and unloading        the plant material into a feed compartment or hopper (3). The        function of recovering the plant refuse may also be carried out        using other loading methods, without significantly moving away        from this invention, such as for example, through an appropriate        feed system for collection of the material by means of rollers        equipped with claws, a conveyor belt etc. The feed hopper is        equipped with one or several inclining side hatches (4) also        operated hydraulically, the number of hatches being variable        according to the volume and the type of plant or wood material        to be treated.

Once the hopper (4) is full with wood waste, the hatch (es) (4) areclosed, moving into a completely vertical position. The bringing downand closing of the hatches has a double function during the operation ofthe machine, namely having the material in the optimum position for itto be cut and keeping or holding the material in place throughout thecutting and compaction process.

The body of the machine also has cutting (5′) and counter cuttingequipment (5) in the upper part of the chassis of the machine as well asin the upper part of the pressing plate (6). The cutting system works,in this mode of execution, fundamentally through hydraulic pressure andcrushing, its operation also being possible through different methodssuch as cutting with shearing systems or similar.

The cutting equipment of this invention has been adapted to overcome theresistance, hardness and difficulties presented by the different woodwaste depending on its nature, condition etc. This equipment is thuscapable of cutting up with the same ease, fine branches and refuse ortougher ones such as vine shoots, wood material or tree trunks with adiameter from 0 to 30 centimetres or more. The cutting up operation isin principal carried out with just one cut, however according to thedimensions and characteristics of the material to be cut up it ispossible to program this cutting task so that it is carried out severaltimes in succession, according to the needs of the case. The programmingof this and other machine management functions is possible thanks to anintelligent element (automaton) (7).

The plant waste, once cut up in accordance with the predeterminedmeasurements, is put into a braking tunnel (8), programmable to exercisedifferent levels of pressure and achieve different levels of compaction.The walls of the braking tunnel (8) have wide grooves (10).

Once put into the braking tunnel, the materials are compacted by meansof hydraulic pressure provided by a piston (9) and a pressing plate (6)located inside the machine body.

The hydraulic pressure provided by these two elements is variableaccording to the density and resistance demands of the wood material tobe compacted and is adaptable or adjustable.

As a result of the effect of the pressure, the wood material iscompacted until it is transformed into geometric shapes (bales) ofvariable measurements as regards their width and height. Their lengthalso varies and is continuous and programmable depending on thecharacteristics of the materials as well as the handling and conditionsfor their transportation. The approximate data for length, height andwidth is situated in the following ranges: Length: Between 40 and 280centimetres; Height: between 40 and 150 centimetres; and Width: Between50 and 120 centimetres. These bales subsequently undergo a tying up andbaling process by means of a hydraulic or electrical system, consistingof a folding frame (11), which may also be fixed or divided into twosections, according to requirements. The frame is equipped with a seriesof baling wire, strapping or other appropriate tying materials (12)which surround the bale and a tying system, using needles, chains orother equipment which allow the compacted material to be held down (13).Said frame, in the operational position, unfolds, separates from themachine body and falls back to the side of the machine, when necessarydue to the tying system chosen, and is inserted into the grooves in thebraking tunnel when the machine begins any movement. In accordance withother various tying systems, it is possible for the frame to be fixed.

The material is compacted continuously, coming to a stop when theprogrammed bale length has been reached, to be tied up and as itadvances, it moves the previous bale, which is expelled through the rearpart of the machine by means of a deposit or expulsion platform (14),held in a horizontal position by a hydraulic arm (14′).

The transportation of the bales is therefore much simpler andcost-effective due to the smaller space and lower volume taken up, themanipulation and transfer from one place to another being easier, withminimal losses of material in these tasks.

The structure of the machinery may be moved by various means, withanything being allowed for, from self-propulsion with caterpillar chainsor wheels, to assembly on mobile work bases such as trucks or cranes.This machinery may also be towed by other means of transport able totravel in an agricultural, forest or urban environment. In any case, thechoice of any of these movement methods will be adjusted to the specificneeds of the type of task to be carried out and the geographicalenvironment in which it is being operated, without this involving anysubstantial distancing from the preferred mode of execution which isdescribed here and in which the machine is installed on a mobile workbase such as a truck and is towed or moved by means of a mobile vehicle(tractor, retroexcavator etc.).

In any case, the mechanical machinery is operated by means of acombustion engine (diesel oil) (not shown), with an internal combustion(petrol) or electrical engine also being possible. Part of the energygenerated by the engine, is transformed in turn into hydraulic energy bymeans of one or several hydraulic pumps (not shown), connected to thesame; the number of pumps to be connected will fundamentally depend onthe functions to be carried out and the energy demand which theygenerate. These pump sections supply the energy necessary for theoperation of the different parts.

The machine also has a power plant or generator (15) whose function isto supply an electrical current for lighting, manoeuvring, night workand other needs.

Finally, the manoeuvres of the machine (cutting, pressing, pressureregulation, bringing down of feed hopper hatches etc.) are programmablethanks to an electric panel or an automaton in combination with anelectric panel.

The preferred mode of execution may be submitted under variants oradaptations undertaken by an expert in the subject without it beingconsidered that these differ substantially from the object of thisinvention.

In an alternative form of this invention (not shown in the designs), themachinery is made up of a compact and self-propelled structure, in whichthe system for recovery and feeding of the wood waste is operated bymeans of rollers with claws and/or a hydraulically operated conveyorbelt which take the materials to be treated up to the hopper or claw.The cutting equipment is also connected or incorporated into theautofeed equipment by rollers or a conveyor belt and the frame is eitherfixed, with a shape adaptable to the machine, or is in two sectionsattached to both sides of the machine body, being fixed in this case asit is not necessary for them to fold away in order to speed up themovement of the machine.

The body of needles which slides along the interior of the frame orguide can have straight or curved variants according to the needs of thecase, it being obvious that the shape described for the body of needles,is going to condition the profile (curved or straight) of the frame orguide which houses them. Lastly, the tying or baling equipment may bemade up instead of metallic wiring by strapping, plastic cord or anyother appropriate method of tying up the bale.

1. Machinery for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/or urbanwaste, characterized by consisting of a single body metallic chassis(1), assembled on a mobile work base which consists of: Recovery andfeed equipment, using hydraulic loading arm-claw (2). Feed hopper (3)with one or several fold-down side hatches (4) operated hydraulically(4′) Cutting (5) and counter cutting (5′) equipment located in the upperpart of the machine chassis, as well as in the upper part of thepressing plate. (6) Equipment for the compaction and pressing of thewood materials made up of:
 1. Pressing plate (6).
 2. Braking tunnel (8).3. Piston (9). Equipment for the tying and baling of the bales orgeometric shapes taken on by the plant materials in the compactionprocess, consisting of:
 1. Folding frame or guide (11).
 2. Baling wire(12).
 3. Body of needles (13). Mechanical equipment for the movement ofthe machine (internal combustion or combustion engine). Hydraulicequipment (pumps or pump section). Electrical equipment (power plant orgenerator).
 2. Machinery for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/orurban waste in accordance with claim number one, characterized bycutting up wood waste of various non-homogenous kinds and trunk sectionswith a diameter of up to and over 30 centimetres.
 3. Machinery for therecovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste, according to claims1 and 2, characterized by being made up of a compacting system applyingadequate hydraulic pressure to achieve sufficient uniformity and densityto transform the material into transportable units in geometric shapes(bales).
 4. Machinery for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/orurban waste, according to claims 1 and 2 characterized by subjectingsaid waste to processing from which geometric shapes (bales) areobtained with an approximate density of between 0.6 and 0.7 tonnes percubic metre and adaptable and variable measurements as regards length,height and width situated in the following ranges: Length: Between 40and 280 centimetres. Height: Between 40 and 150 centimetres. Width:Between 50 and 120 centimetres.
 5. Machinery for the recovery of forest,agricultural and/or urban waste, according to that established in theabove claims, characterized by the substitution of the concept ofelimination of forest, agricultural or urban wood and plant waste, withthat of cost-effective recovery of the same, achieving the incorporationinto the industrial chain of raw materials obtained indirectly, withoutdamaging the ecosystem.
 6. Machinery for the recovery of forest,agricultural and/or urban waste, according to the above claims,characterized by being equipped with means of self propulsion such aswheels, caterpillar chains or any other appropriate means for itsmovement in agricultural or forest areas.
 7. Machinery for the recoveryof forest, agricultural and/or urban waste, according to the aboveclaims, characterized by consisting of a compact and self-propelled bodywith a system for the collection of wood waste and feeding of the hopperoperated by means of rollers equipped with claws and conveyor belts. 8.Machinery for the recovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste,according to claim number 7, characterized by the fact that the cuttingequipment is connected to the rollers and conveyor belts of the systemfor the feed and collection of the wood waste.
 9. Machinery for therecovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste, according to claims7 and 8, characterized by the frame or guide being fixed and straight,with a body of needles which is also straight.
 10. Machinery for therecovery of forest, agricultural and/or urban waste, according to claims7 and 8, characterized because the frame is curved and is split into twofixed sections on both sides of the machine body and two bodies ofneedles which are also curved.
 11. Machinery for the recovery of forest,agricultural and/or urban waste, according to claims 7 and 8,characterized because the frame is spilt into two fixed sections on bothsides of the machine body and is straight, the body of needles alsobeing straight.